Ulysses
by Demonic Angel Clone
Summary: Ashley's walls crumble, looking down at the slumbering infant. "Lucy…needs a home." With his free hand, he wraps an arm around Ashley's waist and looks her in the eye, colbalt blue meeting warm almond. "We could be her home." Set during ME3 and beyond.


Based on a prompt from the kink!meme: "_Ashley/alien LI raising a child together"_

_Ashley has an alien significant other (Wrex or Garrus preferred) and they have a human child via donor._

_Just want Ashley/alien LI/kid fluff_

I love this couple, beyond what I probably should. I couldn't resist, and well, I didn't want to either so here it is. Hopefully, it's in character, but no promises, I tried.

Warnings: Some angst, adult situations.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mass Effect characters, or any poetry used in this. Bioware and Tennyson are to thank for that.

* * *

**_Ulysses_**

* * *

The artificial light above the Presidium gives the station a strong emanating glow. Somehow the feeling of utopia seemingly stays with the Citadel in times of war.

Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams leans against the balcony overlooking the water, her sister beside her.

It's weird, how things change over the course of four years. Sarah's all grown up, independent, a self-sufficient nurse, and Ashley couldn't be more proud of her, but-

"Listen, you don't get it, Ash," The younger Williams shakes her head, slipping a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "This kid was just dropped off at _Heurta_ a couple of days ago. Looks like she was just _born_ a few days ago. Probably was. And-" Sarah takes a breath, biting her lower lip. "Her dad died in the resistance. Mom died during childbirth…No one really knows what to do with her."

Ashley looks over, brow crinkled in empathy. "I don't know how I can help, Sarah."

"You're a Spectre!"

"Which means what, exactly?" Ashley questions.

"Which means that you could take her, keep her safe," Sarah hastens. "No one would be able to stop you from adopting her, Ash."

"And what would I do? Take her on the _Normandy_? In the middle of this fire-fight?"

"She'd be safer with you than anywhere else in this entire galaxy." Sarah says with as much conviction as she could muster. Ashley is less than positive about that, and even less than sure on that point.

"Don't let all of this," Ashley says, gesturing out beyond the Presidium, "confuse you, Sar. There's a real war going on out there-"

"Don't tell _me_ that there's a war going on out there, I _know_ there's a war going on out there. _Thomas_-"

Sarah looks away, eyes shut tight and voice thick with emotion. Ashley puts her hand on her shoulder, berates herself mentally for being so damn callous. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I shouldn't have…"

The younger Williams shakes her head, straightens herself, dabbing her eyes with her fingertips. "No, you're right. There _is_ a real war out there, Ashley. But you know what else is real? That little girl. And you know what else is real? The Reapers. And do you know what's going to happen if no one claims her in a few days, Ash? They're going to send her to Earth. _Earth_!" Ashley winces at that, the Reapers invading Alliance headquarters still playing on a loop fresh in her mind. "And they won't let me claim her because they I'm not a permanent resident of the Citadel, but you _could_, Ash."

Ashley almost wants to believe it, looks into Sarah's eyes and sees that familiar Williams spark. Can't remember the last time she saw that.

"It's a damned miracle that she survived." Sarah wipes her eyes again, but her mouth is set in a firm line, and she's not backing down from this. Ashley feels her resolve dissolving. "There was every reason, every scenario possible for her not to be alive right now, but she is. And she's here. _And you could do something about it_."

"I can't," Ashley shakes her head.

"You _can_," Sarah nods resolutely.

Ashley backs away from the balcony. "I have to go, Sar. If you hear anything from Earth, let me know." The Spectre murmurs quietly, turning towards the door.

Ashley barely takes three steps toward the door before Sarah stops her in her tracks.

"Then I'll ask Shepard, maybe she'll take her."

Ashley freezes. She turns her head and looks at her younger sister over her shoulder, standing defiantly. "What did you say?"

"That Shepard would probably be a lot more help than you, Ash. She's a Spectre, too. Or maybe I could ask Garrus. He was C-Sec here once, right? Maybe he would know someone more willing to do God's work." Sarah shrugs, facing her older sister with a piqued brow.

Ashley doesn't know whether or not she'll regret this later, but she turns, crossing her arms. "And what do you know about God's work, Sarah?"

"I know that if God didn't want her to be alive right now, she wouldn't be. And I know that if I didn't know someone who could personally ensure her safety, she could actually end up in danger. And if I remember correctly," Sarah muses, stepping up to her older sister, "I think I know someone who cares a lot more than she likes to show. A fighter. Just like that little girl." Sarah's eyes narrow, staring into the depths of Ashley's surprisingly calm brown eyes.

Silence pasts between them for a long moment. And then finally:

"Where is she?"

"Maternity Ward, Level 27."

Ashley sighs, heavily. "I'll, uh, call for a transport."

Sarah grins. "No need to do that, sis. Garrus already has her."

Wait. "What do you _mean_ Garrus already has her?"

Sarah's smug grin becomes almost sheepish, reminding Ashley of when she was younger. Ashley has the very childish, very inane desire to punch something. "I…may've had a chat with my brother-in-law, and he was only more than happy to oblige. He's waiting for you to sign the papers and then you'll be on your way."

_Brother-in-law. _Ashley's jaw drops slightly. "What the _hell_, Sarah?"

"Well, I _knew_ you'd say yes," Sarah says flippantly, and then rushes to give her sister a tight hug, which Ashley does not return, letting her arms hang limply at the sides. "You're a good person, Ash."

"And you're a class-A manipulator, Sar," Ashley mutters drily. Somehow, the statement doesn't hold any bite, especially when Sarah leans back and she has this 1000 watt smile on her face, a smile Ashley hasn't seen since she was at her wedding.

"Well, I've got to head back to the hotel, but Garrus should be there now," Sarah goes off to the open doorway and steps out. Before the door shuts, she says, "And by the way, her name is-"

* * *

A door opens to a single room on the Maternity Ward, and a former C-Sec agent stands in the middle, cradling a rosy cheeked baby girl. Her eyes are wide orbs, fascinated with the structure of his face, and the visor over his left eye. A gloved talon tenderly traces her jawline, and her palm wraps around the slim appendage, her fingers barely big enough to curl around it. Her lips part, a question she not quite old enough to ask on the tip of her tongue, and she giggles instead when his talon tickles her tummy.

Ashley Williams stands at the door, head craned pensively.

"Something on your mind LT?" Her boyfriend rumbles, his mandibles moving slowly as a smile crosses his faceplates, teasing the infant with his gently waving talon.

"A few things." The Spectre murmurs, stepping into the room, "I thought you said I was the only girl in your life, Vakarian."

Garrus chuckles, "I'm sure there's room for one more. No need to get jealous."

Ashley's lower lip protrudes in an attempt to seem severely affronted by that, but she goes to stand beside the turian, and the little girl yawns, her small mouth stretching widely as she curls further in Garrus' embrace. And she falls in love all over again. Ashley looks up at him, "How are we going to do this?"

"That all depends on you." Garrus replies, in which Ashley rolls her eyes.

"What type of answer is that?"

"An honest one." Garrus faces her earnestly.

"What do we tell Shepard?" Ashley tries again.

"That we discovered that I have a tumor, and that it's immovable. She'll understand," He dismisses.

If he wasn't holding the baby, she promises that she would punch him. "Quit being an as-"

"Ah, ah, _ah_, language, lieutenant." Garrus tsks, chiding his girlfriend sternly. "There's a child in the room."

Ashley closes her mouth and smirks. "I know. And he's holding the baby."

Garrus grins. "Ouch." He makes a steady rocking motion for a few more moments, and she's fast asleep in his arms.

"What are we going to do about the baby?" Ashley stresses seriously.

"Why don't you say her name?" Garrus asks with a raised browplate.

"I don't want to say her name."

"Why?"

"Because," Ashley answers_. I don't want to get attached._ "She's a distraction."

Garrus looks at her. "She's adorable."

"Yeah," Ashley nods.

"Even if she's squishy."

"Yeah," Ashley says again, a little softer this time. The little girl looks impossibly small and pink in his long, lanky arms. The implications of this alone are enough to make her want to just forget that Garrus is someone she's seeing and that this little girl isn't theirs.

"And how will not saying her name make her less of a distraction?" Garrus cranes his head, faceplates shifting in an expression of bafflement.

"We can't _keep_ her, Garrus." Ashley says with wide pleading eyes. "She needs a normal home, with normal parents."

Garrus looks up, stone-faced. "I see."

Ashley feels the tension build in the air –this isn't going as planned. She's sticking her foot in her mouth at every turn, not realizing how sensitive the subject must've been to him: the fact that if this relationship continued, they would never have a marriage recognizable under the law. They wouldn't even be able to biologically have children. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then how did you mean it, Ash? You know, we don't exactly live in a normal world," Garrus traces the infant's cheeks again, gloved talon over her delicate brow.

Ashley's walls crumble, looking down at the slumbering infant. "_Lucy_…needs a home."

With his free hand, he wraps an arm around Ashley's waist and looks her in the eye, cobalt blue meeting warm almond. "_We_ could be her home."

And…well, isn't that what every girl wishes a guy would say to her? Ashley's knees feel weak and her lips part like rose petals in shock, and…damn, she doesn't really have anything to say to that. She releases a breath between her open lips and closes her mouth, closes her hand over the one Garrus has around her side.

Because this, right here, feels like home.

Ashley leans onto his shoulder, a small smile on her face. "I guess we could…work it out, somehow."

"Somehow," Garrus echoes with a reassuring nod, pressing his mouth plates to her hair softly.

They stand in that small room in _Huerta Memorial_ drenched in artificial light, the promise of home fresh in their embrace.

* * *

Ashley scrimmages through her drawers in a frenzy, in need of a shirt. In need of an anything that isn't the icky hot mess she's wearing right now.

A couple of feet away, Lucy's propped up against pillows, clapping her hands with a gurgle, bright blue eyes filled with mirth.

Ashley swears that if she didn't know any better, the little girl was related to her younger sister Gabby because she used to spit up on her all the time whenever Ashley was stuck babysitting. "Crap," She hisses under her breath when she can't find a suitable undershirt. She strips off the ruined shirt, and buttons up her Alliance blue overcoat over her bra.

She's supposed to meet up with the Council in less than a half hour with Shepard, and she feels more disorganized than ever.

Lucy is fine, though. Diaper change? Check. Fed? Check. Playing with an expensive omnitool?

Ashley rushes to the bed and takes the device out of the reach of the infant, who happens to be a little bit too smart for her own good. Ashley brushes her hand across Lucy's downy blonde locks, "You're killing me, kid. I'm gonna be in _so_ much trouble." She leans down close and nuzzles the baby's nose with her own, making the baby grin widely.

Ashley pulls back and brushes her bangs away from her face as the door opens behind her.

"How are my two favorite girls?" Garrus murmurs, entering the cabin. Ashley smiles cheekily before picking Lucy up from the bed and depositing her into the turian's arms.

"She's just fine, you know. Decrypting classified files and spitting up on mommy. Me, though? I'm having one of those days."

Garrus blinks and looks at her blankly. "Oh. Well. At least you warned me, this time around." He winces involuntarily, scratching his free hand at the back of his head, "I thought that time of the month wasn't going to be for another two weeks."

Ashley swats his arm. "No. Not one of…_those_ days. Just, things aren't going right today, and if you could watch Lucy…"

"Of course," Garrus says without hesitation. Then, he pauses, looking downward. "Although…"

Ashley's brow piques. "What?"

"…It's Sol's birthday."

Oh. "Um, tell her I said hi." Ashley says, feeling rather lame for saying that. She tries again. "Or you could wait until I get back, and we could call together." She likes Solana. She likes seeing her and her brother argue, just because it's so amusing to see him get so flustered, and even more to see the young girl win every time.

But Sol's not the reason for the hesitancy. He knows it, and after that one time Ashley called his father a turian with his eyes shoved up so far up his asshole that he couldn't see straight, she knows it too.

She remembers that night. That was when she and Garrus first kissed.

But before she could allow herself to get too nostalgic about that, Garrus shakes his head, wry grin for on his faceplates. "That'll be fun," Garrus mutters sardonically.

"Yeah," Ashley drawls with the same amount of enthusiasm. "Like two krogan going at it sideways."

Garrus snorts and covers his mouth with his free hand. "Don't let Wrex and Eve catch you saying that."

The images. Ashley cringes. "Believe me, I won't." Ashley sighs and looks at the clock. Crap.

She grabs his free hand, holds it between her own. "Look, just…just wait for me to get back, okay?" The smile on her face is supposed to be reassuring, but it probably just looks awkward and strained. "We'll talk to them together and, I don't know, cross that bridge when we get to it."

Garrus smirks. "It's going to be a hell of a bridge."

"That's why we're crossing it together," Ashley leans forward and kisses Lucy on her forehead, presses her lips against her boyfriend's mouth plates.

It's only been about a month, a few years in the making, but this feels natural. Like this is what she's supposed to be doing and this is where she's supposed to be.

* * *

Garrus isn't all that clueless when it comes to baby girls. Race aside, girls all need the same thing, which is a big strong man to hold them.

Of course, if Ash heard him say anything like that, she'd probably –definitely- kick his ass. Followed by an independent and feminine indignant speech of how she doesn't need a man to hold her, she _wants_ a man to hold her. There's a difference.

Anyway.

Despite popular belief and social standards in turian society, he helped take care of Solana when she was a baby. Wanted to do it; ran home from the academy as quick as he could on weekends to do so. And of course he made his mom promise, promise, _and promise_ to never tell a soul that he did because, well, that's not normal for young and strapping turian boys to be so concerned over their younger siblings when they had mothers at home to do that.

Garrus totes Lucy around the ship lazily with no true destination in mind. Lucy, of course, is as easy as a sunrise from the east of Palaven, so she just takes everything in.

He still hadn't told his father about Lucy. Not that he's ashamed or anything ridiculous like that. It's actually been a while since he's spoken to his father about anything. Bickered, more like.

More than anything, Garrus finds himself jaded. He's a failure as an older brother, he's even more than a failure as a son, not that that bothers him as much as it should, but he does love his father despite the many differences of opinion between them.

His family is safe. Last he heard, Sol had a broken leg, but that can heal. He tries not to think about it too much, mostly because there's nothing he can do about it from where he is now.

Before he knows it, he blinks and he's at the main battery, and since he prefers to stand most of the time, he sits Lucy on top of the main console after she begins wriggling in his arms. She begins playing with the touch screen beneath her, tapping the controls closest to her with the pads of her small fingers and palms. Garrus chuckles, "Ah, so you want to help pops calibrate the main gun today, huh?" Lucy giggles and claps her hands. "Alright, kiddo, first," he taps a few button to her right, and the entire console, as well as the room, lights up. Lucy looks up as the lights above her dance across her face, and the console hums as the electrical current stabilizes. "You have to test the charge to full power. Now," Garrus pauses, taking time to grin. "Let's see what this baby can do."

He takes the time to guide her through all of the runtimes and accesses the mainframe, which gives him the access to the main cannons blueprints.

Of course, every time he does this, engineering gets a report, and since he's running everything at full power right now, he figures he's got a space of around three more minutes before Tali or Traynor come to bite his head off. He holds Lucy's hand, guides it to press down on a control on the right side of the podium, and a holo of a miniature version of the main gun hovers in front of her. The blue of the holo is the same blue of her eyes as they widen in awe at first, and then she reaches out as if to grab and hold the holo in her hands.

He hears clicking footsteps approach, and then the door whooshes open. "What the hell are you doing, bosh'tet?"

He checks the time. 3 minutes and 17 seconds. He turns and shrugs, "Just giving Lucy a lesson."

Tali pauses, and Garrus can see her glowing eyes focus on the infant in front of him and soften. "Oh. Well." She crosses her arms, "Does this lesson involve _everything_ being ran at full power? Traynor is going to have a fit, not to mention that since Liara uses the most energy, the battery is overloaded enough as it is and it's irresponsible to do this while we're docked-"

"Yes, yes," Garrus says drolly. "With all of the improvements I've made-"

"No, you mean with all of the improvements _I've_ made." Tali snaps back with conviction.

Garrus rolls his eyes as Lucy taps various buttons on the console beside her. "The battery is going to be fine, all of the output ends up being recycled."

"Is that supposed to shut me up?"

"You said it, not me," Garrus smirks deceptively, a twinkle in his eye, as Tali huffs and nears the podium. Lucy notices and reaches out for her instead of the holo, and Tali lifts her up easily. "Hello little girl," Tali coos in her heavy accent as Lucy beams at her. After a moment, Tali says, "You know, you two shouldn't be parents."

Garrus frowns, "What makes you say that?"

"You're a bosh'tet, she's a hothead, and both of you like guns a lot more than two people should." Tali bounces Lucy in her arms before holding her up in the air, "You're the last two people who should raise children. Keelah knows how they ever let you leave with her." Tali cradles her again, and Lucy squeezes her gloved finger.

Garrus knows her long and well enough to know that she's kidding, but even he has to admit that she's not exactly lying.

Inwardly, of course. It'd be a cold day in hell before he actually lets her know that she's right. "Maybe that's why we should raise her," he says with a wry grin. "Because we're the last people who should. She'll never be in danger because we won't let her be."

Not to mention that he is a little excited about telling his dad about how his first grandchild is human. Fun, fun, fun…

"You're right," Tali nods, Lucy's face reflected in her mask. "It's hard to be in danger when your parents are the danger."

Before he could say anything on that point, Liara steps in, donned in full battle gear. "Garrus, Shepard needs us."

Now? Wasn't she supposed to be with Ashley? "I thought she was going to meet with the council."

Liara takes a breath, "Cerberus has just attacked the Citadel."

The room falls silent and Tali is already saying she could watch Lucy before Garrus could even whip around to ask.

* * *

The door opens and Shepard steps out first, Garrus and Liara following suit.

Ashley's pistol is pointed forward, and she lowers it momentarily, her breath lodged in her throat. "Shepard?" She looks to her left. "Garrus…" And she shakes her head. No. _No_. This can't be happening. Not again. Not where she's on one side and Shepard and Garrus come charging in on the other. Where she's Alliance, and they're…Cerberus. "What are you doing here?"

"They're working for Cerberus, shoot them!" Udina calls from behind her, but Ashley can't pick her gun up from in front of her. Can't move.

"What are you doing here?" Ashley asks again, insisting for an answer, her finger on the trigger.

Shepard steps closer, and Ashley raises her pistol again. "Ashley, I need you to stay cool and use your head," Shepard says, gun trained on her solider.

"Are you Cerberus, did you do this?" Ashley spouts out absently, eyes wide and mind filling with various conclusions all at once. Garrus, beside Shepard, is calm, collected. She remembers after they met on Horizon, all of the messages Garrus left her, all of the guilt she felt then, and even now for not believing.

Except then, Garrus was pissed at her for even suggesting such a thing, and even in their first messages back and forth, told her of all of the things Shepard had done, had been doing for not just humanity, but for them all. Then, Garrus yelled at her, was angered that she didn't follow Shepard, but she couldn't. She explained that to him later on, and he understood, but even that explanation had seemed hollow.

Really, she was scared. For everything she's been taught and everything she believes in, only one person had been able to rise from the dead, and that was the messiah. She saw Shepard die with her own eyes. And yet, here she was, standing in front of her, more alive than ever. The godmother to her adopted daughter.

Ashley's eyes sting. Garrus still stands calm, collected.

Shepard looks at Liara meaningfully, to which the asari mutely nods, before turning back to Ashley. "I wouldn't do this, Ash. And I'm not Cerberus. Right now, Cerberus troopers are behind that door and that door opens, they'll kill you all."

The councilors look amongst themselves in worry. The asari councilor speaks, "Not believing Shepard in the past hasn't done us any good. We have no reason to not believe her now."

Udina steps up beside her, the voice of all doubt, "I can prove that she is Cerberus, look at how she guns down an Alliance solider." He pulls up surveillance footage on his omnitool, Shepard stepping up to an Alliance security officer before putting one in his chest. Somehow, it doesn't ring true, even if she can see it with her own eyes.

Where was Garrus, when she did that?

_Sometimes seeing isn't always believing._

She remembers when she saw that from an e-mail Garrus sent her.

"Why would Shepard shoot him?" She hears herself ask.

"Because he was working for Cerberus, just like Udina is. Think about it, if I was Cerberus, you wouldn't be alive right now," Shepard says unapologetically. When Ashley looks up, she adds: "Lucy wouldn't be on the _Normandy_. And you wouldn't have asked me to be her godmother, would you?"

No. No, she wouldn't have.

"Can you not see, Spectre Williams?" Udina cries out. "See with your own eyes Shepard's traitorous brutality." He says, heading back to the door controls.

"Seeing isn't always believing," Garrus rumbles, and her eyes snap to his blue ones, calm and collected.

Ashley leans her head back and mutters a quick prayer, thoughts in her mind at war with one another. "I'm going to regret this." She turns back to Udina, her pistol aimed at his head, "Step back from the controls, councilor Udina."

And after that, everything is a blur. Udina is laid out, dead with one of the bullets from her pistol buried in his chest. The remaining councilors thank Shepard for saving their lives. Udina's omnitool reveals messages and directives from the Cerberus network. He'd been working for them as far back as two years ago after the first attack on the Citadel. Cerberus provided him with funds, contacts, means to obtain a seat on the council. In exchange, he looked out for their best interests and gave Cerberus an eye on the Council. A way to invade.

Ashley feels sick. She apologizes to Shepard until she looks like an asari with her tail between her legs, and she can't even make direct eye contact with Garrus. It's hard to hold Lucy without shaking, thinking of how she may not have been there to hold her at all, if things had ended up going south. It's hard to think because all she can think about are all the times in her life things almost did go south.

She spends the night on the floor of the lounge, with the last drops of a bottle of tequila as her only company.

He finds her in the lounge at 0428 hours ship time the next morning.

Her arm is over her head, obscuring her face, hair fanned out beneath her, and her chest rises and falls steadily. He crouches down to the floor on one knee and pokes her with a gloved talon. The hand closest to her face makes a dismissive wave, and he does it again.

Ashley groans, turning over. Garrus leans down to her ear. "Ashley," he rumbles, breath tickling her earlobe. His girlfriend groans again, muttering unintelligible phrases under her breath. He chuckles, cups her chin in his palm. Ashley's bleary eyes open with expected hesitation, and thankfully, it's not too bright and the ship is quiet as usual.

Garrus notices the dilation of her pupils, the elevation in heart and respiratory rate as she looks at him. She is completely and unabashedly wasted. Her eyes shut again tightly as a wave of nausea sails over her and everything feels heavy, the room is spinning. "I-I'm so sorry," she whispers, reaching to hold the wrist of the hand he has cupping her face.

Garrus cranes his head in consideration, mandibles moving anxiously. "Why didn't you come see me?"

"I was..." Ashley pauses, takes another shallow breath. "I felt like an ass, and...I'm so _sttupid_," she slurs. "I'm a bad _ggirl_friend, and sister. I shouldn't be a mother." Garrus cards his talons through her hair while she talks. "That feels nice..." She murmurs.

"You're not a bad girlfriend, or sister, or mother," Garrus says, stroking her dark tendrils of hair. "However, you are a lightweight."

"Uh-huh," she agrees.

He looks up at the bottle sitting on the table, practically empty. Maybe not. "Who gave you that?"

"V-Vega said it would _hit the spot_, make me forget all my troubles."

He makes a mental note to kick Jimmy's ass in a spar next time he sees him.

"Ah," Garrus nods. He looks down at Ashley, still lying pitifully on the floor. "Can you stand?"

"Please, no." He could hear the ache in her voice. And as much as she probably thinks it, he's not mad at her. Can't quite bring himself to be. So maybe Tali was right. Maybe Ash is a hothead and he's a...whatever that word means. No one's perfect and he's certainly not, by any stretch of the imagination. He settles one arm beneath her legs, the other behind her back, and lifts her up. "What are you doing?" She mumbles, vertigo catching up to her.

"I always said I'd sweep you off your feet, Williams," Garrus smiles ruefully as he carries her out of the lounge.

"You're an angel." She murmurs as he walks them toward their cabin.

He's told her about his days on Omega, and he looks down, almost expecting a cheeky grin on her face, but she's nearly out cold enough as it is to have meant that as anything more than what it was.

He smiles wryly, mandibles flaring, "So I've been told."

Lucy is asleep in her bassinet, planetary mobile swaying over her head, reflecting a small galaxy of holographic stars.

Garrus lays Ashley down on her bed next to the crib, and her nose scrunches up cutely, mumbling under her breath. Garrus leans up, readying to leave, but her grip on his wrist tightens. "Stay," Ashley yawns.

"Soft humans need soft beds," Garrus murmurs.

Ashley's eyes open with effort, "Just until I fall asleep."

She's fighting off sleep. Always fighting. "You're almost there," His talons run through her hair again as he reminds her. He thinks he hears her mutter that almost isn't good enough, but he can't be sure. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that you're not supposed to drink by yourself?"

Her lips quirk upward under her sheath of hair, revealing her teeth. "I'm a masochist. Must be a human thing."

"Must be," Garrus agrees as Ashley closes her eyes. He sits by her side, armor sinking into the mattress. He rubs her back, feeling out the kinks and tension buried within the muscles, and a moan escapes her lips involuntarily. His face plates shift into a smirk at the sound, and he stops his ministrations.

"Why'd you stop?" Ashley groans out with her sleep-laden voice, shifting her position.

"Did you want me to continue?" Garrus asks innocently, talons teasingly raking across the surface of her Alliance blue overcoat.

"I'll kick your ass if you don't." She grouses out threateningly. As threateningly as she can with her lips puffed out, hair obscuring most of her face, and clutching her pillow as if it were a life raft.

"You're in no position to make demands, lieutenant. I _could_ just decide to go calibrate the main battery; turn on _all_ of the bells and whistles while I'm at it."

"_No_…" She whines, pleadingly. "I'll-I'll do anything, if you don't do that."

Anything? Garrus grins, his blue eyes raking her lithe form and curves predatorily, "Now we're talking. What are the terms?"

Ashley's mouth opens, exhaling a long and drawn out yawn. She snuggles further into her pillow, "Anything you want."

And then she's out like a krogan on their tenth round of ryncol, making that sound humans and nasally salarians make, he thinks they call it _snoring_. Garrus pulls the sheets over her sleeping form, dims the light in the cabin with gesture of his hand.

He's definitely holding her to that.

But before he leaves the room, he notices Lucy, sitting patiently in her crib, looking upward and at him. She's normally not this quiet, this early. She usually squirms a bit and makes a mewling sound that's not quite a cry but not patient either.

Maybe her God and his Spirits are looking after Ash's peace of mind.

He takes her up in his hands, and it's the pacifier. It's the damn pacifier that's keeping her…pacified. Her eyes are wide and unblinking so he figures she's going to be up for a while. "Want to help dad calibrate the main gun? Huh?" He coos as he settles her into his arms. She only looks at him curiously. "I'll take that as a yes," He murmurs, ambling out of the room into the main hall as the door closes behind them.

* * *

The lieutenant-commander wakes up later that day, her temple throbbing under her fingertips.

She looks over to her bedside, and there's a glass of water and two aspirin beside her lightly glowing omnitool.

Thank God for small favors. She sits on her bedside, ingesting the medication as she shrugs on her tool, opens up the first message in her inbox with the touch of her finger.

_Considering the state you were in, I don't know if I should take this at face-value. But since this is you we're talking about, I think I'll make an exception, just this once. Meet me at the MR Transport, so that we can go do anything I want. -G_

She bet he chuckled the whole time he wrote that. Cocky ass turian. She bites her lower lip to subdue the smile growing on her own face.

Ashley looks through the rest of her messages with less enthusiasm; one from Sarah that they should meet up later on which she replies to immediately in agreement, and one from the council, thanking her for her diligent service and insight. Not that she felt all that insightful…

One from Hackett. He wants her opinion on who the next human ambassador should be. Oh boy.

After all of her mail is sorted and sent to her read box, she gets out of bed and she doesn't feel as terrible as she thinks she should. She rolls her shoulders as she steps out, and realizes that Lucy wasn't in her crib.

Huh. That thought would be worrying if she wasn't on the most secure vessel in Citadel space.

Obviously, an inside job.

Still, she wants her little girl. Lucy sort snuck up on her, curled herself around the former gunnery chief's heart and just refused to let go ever since she held her for the first time. She's always wanted to be a mother, she just never thought it would be like this, never thought it would be now amidst all of this war and uncertainty. But if this thing she has going with Garrus persists…and at this point, she can't see it not persisting, so…yeah, mom and pops. It's not as scary of a thought as she thought it would be.

To have someone to rely and depend upon.

To be relied and dependent on.

Feels nice, to have so much to lose, even if it was in the most unexpected way than she could have ever though imaginable.

* * *

Garrus gets all of his calls out of the way early.

Dad and Solana come first and foremost.

"Garrus," Her voice is soft and steady. She sounds like mom. "Is the alert on your omnitool dysfunctioning or are you getting senile?"

He grins despite himself. "Brat. You should be happy I even call at all. Where's dad?"

"Being dad," She says with a sigh. "Being diligent, vigilant." He hears movement that sounds like she's shifting position. "You know how he is."

"Yeah," Garrus hums in response. "Happy birthday."

"Happy _belated_ birthday," the younger turian adds.

"Details," Garrus dismisses with a chuckle. "Haven't you heard? I've stopped bothering with those."

"Liar."

Garrus sighs. He's missed this. "I miss you, Sol."

A silence follows that. "I miss you too, big brother."

Lucy's between him and the podium, playing with his gloved talons. "I don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to come right out and say it. I'm proposing."

"To Ashley?"

Garrus rolls his eyes, "To the commander."

"Shepard? I thought she was with that asari."

Garrus refuses the urge to twitch, keeping an impassive expression. "She is."

"…I don't think Ashley would like that, Garrus. Unless, you know, polygamy is a human thing. Actually, I did read somewhere that some humans are really into that." Garrus could practically see how peevish Sol's face must look at the moment. "Humans are kind of weird, Garrus. They do this thing where they suck each other's faces-"

"Yes," Garrus cuts across that statement. "Kissing."

"…Have you _done_ that?"

"Do you really want to know?" He asks.

"…No. Yes. I don't know. What's it feel like?" She hastens out, mandibles twisting inward.

"Weirder than it looks at first, I suppose." He reveals honestly. "It gets better," He confirms. It's silent over the line again, and she's probably trying to visualize it in her head. A roguish smirk crosses his face. "And then you do this thing with your tongue, and-"

"Ew. _Ew_," Sol exclaims. "I change my mind; I really _don't_ want to know."

Garrus laughs at his younger sister's expense. "You asked."

"I wish I didn't," She grumbles.

"I do have something else to tell you, but you have to promise not to tell dad. I want to do that."

"Oh, this ought to be good," He can hear the devious smile in her voice.

"…You're an aunt. To a little girl named Lucy."

His mandibles move anxiously in the silence. Lucy pats her little hands on the front of Garrus' armor, like a drum. The thought is almost as amusing as the action. He rakes his hand across the top of her short blonde locks. Finally: "Lucy, huh?"

"Yeah," he says back, a bit distractedly.

"Must be a human, with a name like that," Solana deduces. "Did Ashley have a daughter?"

"She does now."

Sol laughs. "Is she cute? I've never seen a human child before."

"She's your niece, of course she is."

"Of course," Solana says just as haughtily, matching his arrogance. After a preening moment, they both laugh. "Send a holo, okay? I want to see her. And dad's going to want to see her." She pauses. "After he gets over it, and berates you on becoming a human lover."

It's depressing how matter of fact she is, like it's a certainty. Which it is, but he could delude himself into thinking it's not, for just a little longer. But more than that, she sounds a little too gleeful about that for his taste. "Remember, not a word, Sol," Garrus warns.

"Not a word, big brother," Sol promises.

They exchange goodbyes, and Garrus cuts the connection.

* * *

When she exits the docked Normandy, he's there, holding Lucy.

Of course, it's the little girl in his arms that gets the most attention first. Ashley walks up and takes her into her arms, "Hey, pretty girl."

After a moment, Garrus shakes his head with a cross of his arms, watching Ashley and Lucy interact. "And I suppose I'm...oh, what's the phrase? Chopped liver?"

"Sure are." Ashley grins, holding the little girl against her. "What, brushing up on old human lingo?"

"I've picked up a few things over the years," Garrus muses. "Humans have the oddest expressions."

Ashley laughs. "I guess. Never really thought about it before." She rubs Lucy's back while the infant plays with her hair. "So, we were supposed to be doing anything you want...what do you want to do?"

Garrus smirks. "Thought you'd never ask." He heads to the console, punching in a few keys to access the vehicle, and settles the girls in. Ashley admits how impressed she is, he really had everything planned out, down to the child seat and high chair folded in the back.

"So, if today was your last day of possibly doing anything you wanted to do, what would you do?" The turian asks as soon as they're airborne.

"Hmm," Ashley mulls that over. What would she do? "Probably spend it with the people I care about. And kill time, I guess. You?"

Her hand lands atop his own when she says that, and he turns his palm over, grasping her hand within his. She looks over and he has this glint in his eyes, and it's only then that she notices that they're going past areas of entertainment, far above the wards.

Far above the Presidium.

"Ever since I was a rookie working for C-Sec, I always wanted to go on the bridge above the Presidium," He says with a touch of awe, like its the greatest thing ever.

Ashley cocks her head, not quite getting it. "So, why didn't you?"

"Well, like most things on the Citadel, there are regs about that sort of thing. 137 of them, to be precise," Garrus murmurs.

"And you couldn't get special clearance, because...?"

"There's no such thing," He says curtly.

"So what's different about today?" Ashley questions as he glides in to land on the platform.

Garrus gives a wry, unapologetic smirk. "Today, I just don't give a damn." They touch down and Lucy's set up in her high chair with her favorite rattle. Ashley imagines that if the Citadel had birds, this would be the view they'd have every day. Garrus takes out a couple of Vipers, throws one to his girlfriend. "I thought that this would be a win-win for both of us, but moreso for me."

Ashley examines the scope clinically, a surgeon becoming familiar with their scalpel. "How do you figure? I never miss my mark."

"Ah, but you see, you don't have my range, lieutenant," Garrus approaches. "I have the best longshot of any race, anytime, anywhere."

Ashley's brow rises, "Whoa. You're absolutely blowing me away with your modesty, Vakarian. Think you're losing your touch?"

He steps behind her, wraps his arm around her front and she curls into the embrace, a little breathless. Garrus leans down to her ear, warm breath fanning over her earlobe, "My touch always has the desired effect, Williams." She closes her eyes as her arm rests over his over her midsection.

"Is that so?" She questions, craning her head so that she's facing him, soft smile on her face.

He laughs softly in her ear, "I'll let you be the judge of that later on." He moves away, and Ashley almost frowns at the absence of warmth. "But now, its time for us to once and for all admit that I'm the best shot of all time."

She cocks her sniper rifle, "I don't think that's gonna happen babe." She then turns and grins cheekily. "It's always nice to have a dream, though."

"So confident," Garrus drawls. Ashley set her sights out front. "Last chance to back out."

"Just throw the damn can."

The turian obliges, throwing it out enough to gather some height. She shoots it before it hooks and falls. And yeah, Ashley's a little proud of herself.

"That was an easy shot," He shrugs as Lucy bangs her rattle in the background.

"Ha, easy shot. Whatever you say, big guy," The lieutenant-commander teases. She struts over to the bag containing all of the cans, and gathers one, throwing it between her palms. She may've took her time bending over to get it, time with which Garrus may've used to admire her backside, but all of this is coincidental.

The wink she casually sends him over her shoulder is just plain cruel. "See something you like?"

"Something," Garrus agrees, his voice husky and low. He adjusts his scope to where he can see the far line of the horizon of the space station and sets up to fire. "Don't go easy, give me your best."

Ashley nods, and throws it out, hard and fast. It's blasted into debris before she could even blink.

"I said _don't go easy_," He whines petulantly.

Ashley scoffs, switching positions with him, readying her rifle while he retrieves a can. "Fine, _you_ give _me_ your best."

They keep this up for the better part of the afternoon until they run out of cans – Ashley makes a comment of how he should stick to calibrating guns and leave the shooting to her, and one thing leads to another, and she ends up flat on her back on the bridge, with Garrus on top tickling her and nuzzling her neck with his snout. Her mouth is open with laughter as she throws her head back and her attempts to throw him off her are futile as he fully straddles her, closes his mouth over the curve diverting from her neck. She lets out a moan, eyelids fluttering, as his jaw tightens the hold, and it's only when she tenses that he backs off.

She's out of breath when he pulls back far enough to look into her brown eyes. "Cheater," She manages to huff out with narrowed eyes.

"Is that a complaint?" Garrus asks, hovering over her.

_No_. "It should be," Ashley says.

His ridged mouth nears her pliant and parted lips, mandibles twitching. "It's not cheating if you take your eyes off the prize, Williams."

His breath fans over her face and her eyes grow impossibly soft and large before becoming half-lidded. Ashley bridges the gap, craning her neck forward as her tongue insists entrance into his mouth. Garrus only barely wraps his arms around the Spectre beneath him, taking in the curves of her hips, the firmness of her waist before a Citadel transport rises from under the bridge and in the air above them.

"Attention civilians, this is Citadel Security. You are not permitted clearance to this area – I repeat, you are _not_ permitted clearance to this area, you must vacate immediately!" The intercom of the transport blares out at them, causing Lucy to start crying.

Ashley stills and Garrus holds the back of her head steady with his hand, preventing her from moving away. His tongue traces her bottom lip and the motion elicits another moan to slip from her lips. After another long moment, Garrus pulls back very reluctantly and he doesn't know what he more disgusted with – the fact that C-Sec actually took the time out of their busy schedules in an attempt to apprehend them, or being referred to as a civilian. Maybe both.

He pulls Ashley up to her feet and her cheeks are flushed, and he knows her well enough to know that she's severely embarrassed by this. Stepping a toe out of line isn't up her alley most days because of her family history, and this is very clearly crossing it.

"This is the last time we do _anything_ you want," She mutters as she holsters Lucy back into their transport, and he sighs.

For the first time in years, he finally figures out what the _C_ in C-Sec really means, and it has nothing to do with the Citadel.

* * *

They go out for lunch with Sarah at the only dextro-levo bistro on Zakera Ward and Ashley's pretty much over the prior embarrassment.

…Until a Citadel-wide report plays over the intercoms and networks covering an exclusive from Khalisah al Jilani: the second human Spectre caught breaking regulations by making out with her turian boyfriend above the Presidium, who happens to be a former C-Sec agent.

Garrus chances a glance at Ashley, who continues to calmly spoon feed Lucy her peas.

Sarah's normally demure face is the epitome of shocked. "Ash, you didn't." When Ashley doesn't answer, Sarah's jaw drops lower than Garrus thought was possible for a human. "I'm _so_ telling the girly troupe!"

Ashley's cool façade cracks, and her face darkens. "No, you're not."

Garrus frowns. "Girly troupe?"

Sarah turns to him, "That's what Dad used to call all of us; Mom, Ash, Lynn, Gabby, and I. His _girly troupe_. I guess that's what happens when you're the only guy in the house," The redhead shrugs. She then turns to her older sister mischievously. "And they _are_ hearing about it."

Ashley gives a resigned sigh, and he's oddly reminded of how he and his sister usually interact. "That reporter's going to want an interview by the end of the day."

"Get Allers to do it," Garrus suggests.

Ashley's nose pinches. "I don't know if that alternative is better, or worse."

"We could always threaten to throw her out the airlock if it's not a fair interview."

Ashley smirks. "Shepard wouldn't like that. But more than that, I know Udina's going to be brought up, and…" She sighs again, dabbing Lucy's cheeks and chin with a napkin. "I don't want to talk about that."

Sarah shakes her head, "Then we don't have to."

Being with her sister while the galaxy is overrun by Reapers was just what the doctor ordered - her own piece of home. They spend that last afternoon talking, laughing. Sarah holds Lucy, bouncing her on her lap, and Ashley can't help but think that the little girl looks perfect there.

She and Garrus spend some time on the bridge in the Commons overlooking the water. "I'm sorry that we didn't make that call together," she says after a while of silence. Ashley knows that he must have already made the call because she would've done the same if the roles were reversed. He interlaces his talons in her fingers on the railing.

"We'll do it after this is all over," he says, mandibles moving inward and outward. "I told Solana about Lucy, she can't wait to meet her."

Ashley looks over her shoulder, "And your dad?"

"Wasn't around at the time." Garrus replies curtly. "Out doing his civil duty."

"He'll be alright, Garrus."

"I know," the turian says with a growing wry grin. "He always is."

They head on one more detour before boarding the ship that evening.

Past the wards and just a short walk away from C-Sec was a single apartment unit in wait for the owner to return. The key card slides in easily into the lock, and Garrus opens the door after the illuminating red light lights up green in confirmation.

The apartment is small and rudimentary to say the least. There's a kitchenette, a long hallway leading to the bathroom, and beyond that a bedroom with only a nightstand and a cot. "Love what you did with the place," Ashley remarks, tracing her fingers on the plain bedspread.

"After spending two years on Omega, and then this whole Reapers ordeal coming about, calling an interior designer wasn't the on the top of my list of things to do on shore leave," Garrus sighs, watching the Spectre lie down casually on the bed.

"And what was on the top of the list of things you wanted to do on shore leave?"

He looks at her, with her teasing smile, lying on her forearms. The word _'you'_ comes to mind. "A few things," he says instead.

"Like?" Ashley asks after his very neutral reply. "We stuck Lucy with Sarah."

"She didn't seem very put-off," Garrus says mildly, joining her on the bed. "In fact, if I remember correctly, Sarah had to practically drag Lucy out of your hands."

Ashley scoffs, "No, she didn't." At his silence, she looks over at him with amused brown eyes. "She didn't. And…you planned this, didn't you?"

Garrus smiles, slides his arm around her midsection. "Are you mad?"

"I should be. But no, I'm not," Ashley smiles back, tracing her fingertips over his cobalt blue marking. "You never did explain what these mean."

"They're unique to all turians," He begins, holding her hand. "Like the fingerprints on humans, each one is different, but ours is more obvious and shows our familial ranking in society. And speaking of which, I've been doing some research of my own."

Ashley's eyes widen. "Oh really? On what?"

Garrus shifts on the bed and lowers himself until he's on his knees on the floor. Ashley leans forward, watching him curiously. Garrus coughs to cover the silence and he grabs the small velvet box he had placed at the bottom of the bed obscured out of view. Ashley sits up fully, realizing what he's holding in his hand, her heart pounding in her ears as he opens it.

Garrus' laugh is anxious as he looks at the ring in the box. He puts in on the bed and holds her hand, slipping off her glove and sliding it on her fourth finger.

It's…beautiful. Sapphire blue with a plain gold band. Ashley covers her mouth with her free hand and she's not a sappy girl by a longshot. Oh, who is she kidding? She is. She's biting her lower lip and trying not to cry.

"Spirits, I hope I'm doing this right," Garrus mumbles.

"Keep going," Ashley encourages. "I want you to keep going."

Garrus clears his throat. "Um. I was wondering if- I mean to say that since you, Lucy, and I are already considered a family, we are a family, if you would like to be a permanent member of my…family."

If he wasn't trying and wasn't so adorable doing so, she would laugh. But he is trying, despite the fact that he put her ring on the wrong hand, and he's on both of his knees instead of just one. He didn't have to do something like this. Who knew the amount of time he spent on the intranet looking all of the customs up? Maybe she could ask Liara or Tali later. Maybe she could do some research of her own.

She leans forward further, grabs his face and kisses him fully on his parted mouth plates. He wraps his arms around her as she caresses his mandibles with her fingertips, and when she opens her eyes, she's somehow in his lap. "Yes," the lieutenant commander says.

Ashley looks at her sparkling ring a bit warily. "But what if something happens to…" She trails off, and she knows that that's probably the last thing she should be thinking about right now. God. Her sisters would chew her out if they found out that she said something like that while Garrus was practically proposing to her.

Garrus chuckles, brushing wayward bangs away from her face. "I thought about that." He takes the box from the edge of the bed, still holding Ash to him, and removes the bottom padding, holding up a light gold chain from the box. Ashley's eyes light up and she takes off the ring, allowing him to put it on the chain and clasp it around her neck.

She kisses him again when he finishes, wrapping her legs around his slim frame as he unzips her overcoat, revealing the lacy bra underneath. Garrus works on the clasps of his armor as Ashley removes her other glove and pants. His talons rake lightly across her scalp as he buries his hand at the back of her hair. "You know Vakarian, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a pro at this."

He grabs her by her hips and lifts her up as her legs wrap around him. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I do tend to have this effect on women," He purrs huskily, lowering her onto the bed.

It's not soft by any stretch of the imagination, but it does remind her of the cot she had back in basic training. She's pleasantly surprised when he unclasps her bra by himself and she slips off her panties. He's _definitely_ been doing some research. Probably been talking to Vega and Joker while he was at it too.

They're both exposed and he's over her until she tucks her leg over his spur and flips him over while keeping her lips connected to him. She feels his tumescence twitch in-between the apex of her legs and she smirks against his mouth.

They had only slept together twice before, which Ashley can only guess is the result of being an active fighter in an intergalactic war, and then having parenthood thrust onto you in the most unexpected way.

Before they had sex, they had only managed to be tentatively affectionate. Tentatively because everything was so new; he wasn't quite savvy to the custom of kissing yet and she was still unsure of the foreign appearance of his protruding mandibles, his teeth, his talons, all seemingly very sharp and dangerous. His height made things like giving an innocent peck on his cheek daunting.

She rocks her hips against him, and his uncovered talons dig into her flesh lightly, not enough to protrude. She presses down her hands on his broad chest plates and he groans, lulling his head back and giving Ashley access to kiss his neck. Her fingers brush against the crown stemming to his spine behind his head, running the pads of her fingers over his scales the way she knew he liked.

By the time her fingers work their way up to his fringe, fluttering in anticipation, he flips her over. She mewls when he parts her legs with her hand and they lock eyes, sharp blue meeting warm brown. Ashley bites her lower lip as she removes the visor covering his left eye and he lowers himself over her, his warm breath fanning over her sex making her tremble. He gets distracted by his ring sparkling between the valley of her heaving chest and carefully rests each leg over one of his shoulders, smiling.

Garrus licks a line up her seam, tasting her arousal on his tongue when she lulls her head back and arches against the cot, gripping the crown of his head. He parts her legs further, licking another long line in-between her wet folds, tracing a circle along her nub as she moans out. He can feel himself straining as his plates fully retract, but this is about her tonight.

"Garrus, don't stop," Ashley breathes out heavily, and her back arches again when he obliges with a sensuous lick, tracing her clit lightly with his talon. He switches the pressure to the pad of his finger, pressing against the nub and she cries out, gripping the sheets beneath her.

The turian hovers over her, making sure not to bear his weight down on her as he gathers her in his arms. He slides her legs over the back of his as she pressed up against him, her soft curves molding deliciously against his hard planes. Ashley presses her lips against his mouth and his tongue slides over hers. Somehow tasting herself on his tongue was always a turn-on.

He grabs one of her tense hands, intertwining their fingers and her eyes widen when he eases into her until he's at his hilt and they roll to the back of her head as waves of pleasure rack her body before fluttering shut. The Spectre rolls her hips against him instinctively as he nips at her neck, her collarbone, his tongue sliding against her nipple as he quickens the pace. She shifts her pelvic forward, changing the angle, and _there_, _right there_ he hits her clit with a thrust of his hips and the warm bundle building up within her uncoils at once as her walls close in on his cock.

Garrus growls lowly against her breast, feeling her clench around him, and he lets go when Ashley closes her mouth around the sensitive flesh of his neck, lightly skimming her teeth along it, pressing her hands underneath the hard carapace along his spinal cord. As she kisses over the skin, she can feel Garrus pull back and retreat from beneath her. That fact of male turian anatomy never failed to surprise her, and she finds herself chuckling.

Garrus hums against her skin, pulling back to look at her amused face. "Something funny, lieutenant?"

Ashley purses her lips inward, trying to fight off the smile and failing horribly. She knows that laughing after doing what they just did could be perceived in a bad way, but fortunately, Garrus didn't seem put off by it. Curious, more like. "Nothing," She shakes her head, her mussed hair falling to her shoulders. "I just…never in a million years imagined this happening."

"Disappointed?" He murmurs patiently, eyes trained downward, and if Ashley was capable of looking affronted by the concept at that moment, she would have.

"No. Of course not. I love you."

The words just spill from her mouth as easily as it is for her to breath. She didn't even think about it, and because of that she figures that she should be scared of that admission. Instead, she leans forward, pressing her forehead against his, closing her eyes. "I love you, Garrus Vakarian," She says again, softer this time.

Garrus' grin is as wide as his face allows it to be, pushing his forehead forward against hers affectionately as his talons stroke her dark hair. "And I love you, Ashley Williams." He thumbs the ring hanging from his lieutenant's neck, "Are you going to let me make an honest woman out of you?"

She sighs before his mouth touches her lips, "Anything you want."

* * *

The Normandy SR-2 has its course set after the crew boards that evening.

Destination: Earth.

It's late, but somehow she can't get any sleep. Not that any sane person with an idea of what was going on could. The Spectre holds her adopted daughter and thinks about her dad. About how far she's come. About her mom. Her sisters.

Lucy finds the gold chain around her neck and pulls. Finds the ring around it and closes her fingers around it. Ashley bounces the infant on her lap. She knows she'd probably sound ridiculous if she said it aloud, but it's like the little girl knows that they're going to hit that relay in a few hours. Heading right back to the place her father died making sure she was away from.

"…Come from the dying moon, and blow,

Blow him again to me;

While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps."

Ashley murmurs into the air as Lucy settles against her. The little girl has heavy laden eyes, the most adorable baby blues she's ever seen. Usually, it doesn't take this long to put her down for the night, but even she knows that something is going to happen on this last stop.

"Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,

Father will come to thee soon."

Ashley's face breaks into a smile besides herself at the subharmonic murmur. "Rest, rest, on mother's breast, father will come to thee soon." She continues on.

Garrus recites as he walks into the room, "Father will come to his babe in the nest, silver sails all out of the west under the silver moon."

Ashley watches as his hand strokes her small back, and finally, Lucy relaxes to the touch, and closes her eyes. Garrus finishes, "Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep."

Ashley regards him with a tilt of her head. "You remembered it?"

Garrus smiles. "One of my favorites from him."

The Spectre laughs, "Really?"

"No hidden codes, short and to the point, a little melancholy..." The turian lists. "And it translates well, better than his other work."

"That always helps," She smiles as he sits down beside her. Ashley lays her head on his shoulder, and her body shudders as she laughs. "I can't believe you actually read Tennyson."

"Can't?" Garrus inquires.

"Okay, maybe not _can't_, but…" She bites her lower lip, holding back a laugh. "Most guys wouldn't." After a moment of pause, she adds to that, "Most human guys wouldn't."

"Your father did," The turian points out as his arm wraps around her, and Ashley nods in agreement. "He'd like you," Ashley says after a while of silence. "Once he met you, and got to know you. He'd like how you were with me, admire your commitment." He holds her tighter. "Ask you what poem you liked, and about the war. And then he'd ask you what you like to eat and if it could be made on the grill," She smiles as she closes her eyes.

It takes a few moments, but finally: "What's a grill?"

"Hmm, think about what they do with the meat on Tuchanka."

Garrus' faceplates shift, and even in the dark, Ashley can recognize the flare of his mandibles between bewilderment and a grimace. "Blow varren skyhigh and eat the remains?"

That was, as she remembered, the last laugh she had before they reached London.

Ashley turns away, looks out at the stars. "You ever think about it? Think about things not going according to plan."

Garrus sighs, "Having a family changes the entire playing field; I can't afford to think like that now."

But. "That doesn't really answer my question."

Garrus smirks. "I didn't think it would." He pauses, probably for dramatic effect. If it weren't for the serious nature of the conversation, she would've been amused. "I've thought about it often. Whether or not the next bullet will be _the_ bullet. We're not invincible, Ash."

A humorless smile mars her face. "Trust me, Mars snapped me out of that real quick, among other things."

"It's a good thing my girl can take a hit," Garrus muses.

With her free hand, Ashley raps her knuckes against his right cheek. "So can you." She looks up and down his face, "You better not die on me, Vakarian."

He grabs the hand she has on his face with his own. "I wasn't planning on it, _Vakarian_." She smiles. "You like the sound of that, don't you?"

"I kinda do, actually," She says softly. "Your dad's not going to like a Spectre in the family."

"I think he'll manage," Garrus says with a lopsided grin.

* * *

"We wanted to ask you something."

The doctor looks between the lieutenant-commander and the former C-Sec agent. "Well, please, don't keep me in suspense. Ask," The older woman says with curiosity.

Garrus takes out a small vial given to him from Liara, and hands it over to Chakwas. "We wanted you to administer this to Lucy."

She doesn't even bother with a preliminary scan of the vial's contents. "You do realize that this drug is extremely experimental? This amount alone could subdue an adult krogan."

That's the point, neither parents says. "We just need her to have enough to last until this is all over." Ashley says, holding the still slumbering infant.

The crow's feet around Dr. Chakwas' grey eyes deepen in sympathy. "Bring her crib to the medbay. I have to warn you, she may not wake for days, weeks even, depending on her reaction to it."

Garrus and Ashley exchange glances, and the turian looks back to the doctor. "We understand."

"Very well," The older woman says as she opens the small bottle, filling her syringe with the lavender liquid. Ashley takes a few moments to study the little girl's peaceful face while Garrus goes to get her crib. "You're going to wake up in a better place, Lucy. I promise," Ashley whispers.

Dr. Chakwas dabs her little arm with sterilizing solution and Ashley tucks her in when Garrus returns with the crib. Garrus strokes her back for the last time as the doctor inserts the needle into her vein and empties the syringe.

* * *

Clasping the front portion of her armor, the second in command readies herself for battle.

The door of her cabin opens, and the last person she expects to walk in, does. Ashley looks at her expectantly. "T'Soni."

The asari walks into the room, "We haven't spoken since Cerberus attacked the Citadel."

Ashley's gaze flickers downward. "Not my best moment. In fact, not a moment I want to relive at all," The Spectre finishes harsher than she meant.

"Fair enough," Liara amends, leaning against the wall. Ashley finishes hooking her torso together as the Shadow Broker watches her every movement. Ashley doesn't remember Liara being too skilled with knowing how to act around people, and almost wants to believe that she's the same naïve woman she met back on the SR-1.

The way her sharp eyes follow her, and the deliberate way of which she carries herself suggest that she is definitely not the same person.

After all, if things were different, she probably would've put a round through her chest, just from Shepard's word.

The silence in the room is jarring as Ashley checks her pistol needlessly and holsters it. Liara remains against the wall, arms crossed.

"Are you ready?" Liara inquires.

"I don't know, are you?" Ashley asks over her shoulder. "Shouldn't you be with Shepard right now?"

Liara smiles. "I could say the same about you and Garrus."

"Do me a favor and don't."

"I've already done you a favor."

_And there it is_, Ashley thinks. She turns around and walks toward the asari, standing right in front of her. "If you have something to say, why don't you just come out and say it?"

Liara's head tilts as she studies the woman in front of her. "I can understand that you're frustrated. I can even understand why you are frustrated, Williams. You're in love with someone that your family history suggests you shouldn't be in love with, and you're responsible for someone too young to realize that her life has been altered forever before it's even started."

"Anything else?" Ashley grits out.

A pause. "Your first decision as Spectre almost involve killing your commander." Liara's wide eyes narrow.

Ashley crosses her arms. "And if that bothers you so much, why even give Garrus the serum?"

"Because that little girl shouldn't be condemned for _your_ shortcomings. You shouldn't have doubted Shepard in the first place," Liara states vehemently.

Righteous bitch. Ashley steps closer, "I'm not going to apologize for it, if that's why you're here. Shepard dies right in front of my eyes, you find her scraps, and then she comes back years later, working with Cerberus? And I'm supposed to accept that without question?"

After a moment of defiance, Liara backs down. "I didn't come here to quarrel."

Ashley looks at the asari incredulously. "Then why did you come?"

"Because I-" Liara cuts herself off, holds her hands over her midsection. She looks away, and it's all very subtle, but deliberate. Ashley looks down at the asari's midsection despite herself, and there's nothing that can be visibly seen, but it all starts to make sense.

"Shit," Ashley mutters because she doesn't know what else to say. She rakes her hand through her hair.

Liara composes herself, stands up straight. "Indeed," she agrees tentatively. "I needed to let someone know."

Ashley looks at her, even more bewildered than before. "And you chose _me_? What about Shepard?"

And for the first time in a long time, a shadow of the old Liara comes out. "You know how she is," The asari murmurs wistfully. She goes to walk out the door, and over her shoulder, says, "And because of this…favor that I've done for you, I trust you'll keep this to yourself."

The lieutenant-commander's jaw slacks. "You can't just-"

But the door shuts before she can even finish her sentence.

* * *

Hours later, when the ground forces are overwhelmed by the attack, the sky lights up.

And there's Shepard, running towards it. Running towards the Crucible.

"She said to get out of here, _that was an order_!" She hears someone yell, and then she realizes that it was Garrus from beside her by the helm. Ashley grips Liara's arm, having kept the asari by her side the entire time. Vega is dragged back through the airlock just in time, while Tali is lead back to engineering. The relay comes into view.

In the medbay, as the _Normandy_ crash lands, Lucy remains undisturbed in her slumber.

* * *

More soon. Hopefully more fluff like the prompt asks~

Feedback is always welcomed!

DAC


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